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1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks end mixed as oil soars

Xinhua, February 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks reversed sharp early losses to close mixed Wednesday, as a strong rebound in oil prices boosted market sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 183.12 points, or 1.13 percent, to 16,336.66. The S&P 500 gained 9.50 points, or 0.50 percent, to 1,912.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 12.71 points, or 0.28 percent, to 4,504.24.

Oil prices spiked on Wednesday, with both the U.S. oil and Brent crude surging more than 7 percent, as the U.S. dollar tumbled against other currencies.

Rumors of an emergency meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) resumed, which also helped buoy the market.

On the economic front, U.S. private sectors added 205,000 jobs in January, beating market consensus of 190,000, according to the ADP National Employment Report Wednesday.

The ADP figure is watched closely as a pre-indicator for the non-farm payrolls report due out on Friday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. non-manufacturing index registered 53.5 percent in January, 2.3 percentage points lower than the seasonally adjusted December reading of 55.8 percent and below market consensus of 55.5, the Institute Supply Management (ISM) said Wednesday.

In corporate news, shares of Merck fell 0.71 percent to 50.05 dollars apiece Wednesday, after the drug giant delivered quarterly earnings above estimates but revenues short of forecast.

Shares of Yahoo shed 4.75 percent to 27.68 dollars apiece, as the Internet service company's newly-released restructuring plan disappointed investors, even though it reported better-than-expected quarterly results.

Overseas, European equities declined broadly Wednesday. British benchmark FTSE 100 Index dropped 1.43 percent, while French benchmark index CAC 40 tumbled 1.33 percent.

In Asia, Chinese benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.38 percent to end at 2,739.25 points Wednesday, while Japanese 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average plunged 3.15 percent to end at 17,191.25 points. Endit